Hotel tax won’t be paying for affordable housing

Council has decided that hotel taxes in the city won’t be funding affordable housing.

At the Sept. 19th council meeting, Mayor Lyn Hall requested council make a decision on whether money from the Municipal and Regional District Tax (MRDT), also called the Hotel Tax, would go towards affordable housing or continue to fund Tourism Prince George.

The MRDT, a three percent tax on hotels, contributes about one million dollars a year.

Hall said while there is a need for housing, taking the tax away from Tourism Prince George would mean taxpayers would be footing that bill.